Air concentrations of volatile organic acids in confined animal buildings - determination with ion chromatography

摘要

The concentration of organic acids in the air was determined in samples collected from 8 different animal buildings differing in building design, housing system and animal species. The samples were enriched using a membrane enrichment technique andanalysed using ion-exclusion chromatography. Lactic, formic, acetic, propionic, iso-butyric, butyric, iso-valeric and valeric acids were found. The number of individual acids varied between buildings. The highest total amount of acids was found in an insulated pig building in which all of the analysed acids were detected. The concentrations of organic acids measured was not considered harmful to human health, however, together with other air pollutants, organic acids create an environment that is unhealthy.